Showing posts with label embrace the natural you. Show all posts
Showing posts with label embrace the natural you. Show all posts

Saturday, March 25, 2017

The End Of The Braiding Challenge

Winter is officially over and I am doing less braided styles, so I am officially ending my braiding challenge.  This has been a fun challenge.  Through it, I've learned that my hair prefers "wet creams" (almost thick lotion texture) and "wet butters" if the butter is very light and fluffy.  Water has to be the first ingredient, and there has to be a good concentration of it.  

Over the course of this challenge, I tried at least 16 butters and twisting creams.  These were my favorites, starting with my most liked:
  1.  Embrace The Natural You Twist Truffle Whip
  2.  Silk Dreams Almond Buttercream
  3.  Jane Carter Curl Defining Cream
  4.  Camille Rose Aloe Whipped Butter Gel
  5.  Uncle Funky's Daughter Supercurl Miracle Moisture Cream & Extra Butter combined

I was surprised that only one of my Camille Rose butters made the list, and that the Almond Jai Twisting Butter wasn't at the top after my Camille Rose Battle of the Butters.  I also learned through this challenge that the leave-in under my butter can sometimes make a big difference.  While Uncle Funky's Daughter Supercurl Miracle Moisture Cream started out as one of my top favorites, it dropped a little as the challenge progressed and after I tried the Uncle Funky's Daughter Extra Butter. Though Supercurl and Extra Butter gave me good sheen and hold, they need to be paired with each other or with another heavy leave-in, like Camille Rose Almond Jai Twisting Butter or the Silk Dreams Wheat Germ Butter Conditioner to get moisturized softness.  Oyin Hair Dew was too light.

Sometimes, I used Eco Styler gel on top of my cream, but it didn't typically make a difference with the top ranked stylers, except that the gel made my edges and my crown neater.  I also tried Aloe Vera gel once, but I my hair did not like that all.

Finally, I learned through this process that, aside from a my wash n' go, my high bun and my low bun, crown braids are my favorite go-to style.  It takes about less than 15 minutes for me to do, and it will last for a few days.  Also, when my crown braids start to get fuzzy, they create a great braidout with the right products.  I just have to be careful because my crown breaks easily.  I also have to make sure that I continue to moisturize my hair in the braids because it is easy to just leave them alone for a week without thoroughly moisturizing them, which will dry my hair out by about the third or fourth day.  I am pretty sure my laziness with moisturizing my hair in braids is what led to some mild breakage and thinning that I experienced.

What are your favorite stylers for braiding/braid outs?  Do you have any go-to braid styles?

Friday, December 30, 2016

2016 Favorites

Hey, beautiful people!  Merry Christmas and a happy new year (in advance)!  The end of the year is here, so it is time for my annual list of favorites.  This year, there were a few surprises for me because the products were not on my radar till I tried them.  Of course there were also some reoccurring favorites:

Moisturizing, Light Protein Deep Conditioners:
- Silk Dreams Mocha Silk Infusion
- Silk Dreams Shea What Therapeutic Conditioning Masque

Cleansers

Rinse Out Conditioner

Leave-in Conditioners & Moisturizers
- ORI Essentials Leave-in

Gels (for bunning and wash n’ go)

Braid & Twist Creams

Heat Stylers

Oils & Mix-ins
- Silk Amino Acids


Sunday, April 17, 2016

Product Review: Embrace The Natural You Twist Truffle Whip (The Braiding Files #5)


Price:  $13 for 8 oz

Ingredients:  Water, Aloe Vera Leaf Juice, Behentrimonium Methosulfate (and) Cetearyl Alcohol, Unrefined Shea Butter, Mango Butter, Sweet Almond Oil, Avocado Oil, Vegetable Emulsifying Wax, Extra Virgin Organic Coconut Oil, Jamaican Black Castor Oil, Vitamin E, Fragrance and Essential Oils.  **NOTE:  According to the website, as of 2/2/16, this product no longer has shea butter, Jamaican black castor oil, or vegetable emulsifying wax.  So it may be even more low porosity friendly!

Scent: Light island breeze, like papaya and mango

Consistency:  Whipped cream cheese

Results:  I bought this product last September at a market near my job.  As a nice bonus, this is a Michigan-based company, so I can pick it up on the ground.  When I purchased it, I met the owner, who uses her product on her own hair (bonus #2).  

While I have been using this product for a while now, it has taken me this long to review it because I was not certain what to say.  It leaves my hair soft and gave it nice sheen about 8 times out of 10.  The rest of the time, my hair was really dry, and felt coated, and I wanted to figure out why because I really like this product.  I have realized two things.  First, I need to use water or a very moisturizing leave-in under this product for it to work well on my hair.  If I don’t put enough moisture into my hair under this product, it leaves my hair dry.  While this product comes with its own moisture built in, my greedy hair needs more.  As I mentioned in my post on coconuts, I need a lot of water for coconut to work in my hair. 

Second, if I use a heavier/coating leave-in under this product, the residue from the this product will combine with the residue from the leave-in, and my hair feels coated.  As I note above, the ingredients have changed, and the more heavy/coating ingredients have been removed, so it may now be perfect for me.  I plan to try the new formulation soon.  Maybe the new formulation will be a “love it”.As an aside, this product reminds me a lot of Annabelle's Perfect Blend Hair Creme in both texture and the way it works on my hair, except APB does not have coconut oil.  Thus, if you already like that product, you may want to try this, and vice versa. 

Love it, Like it or Leave It:  Like It